"Build up the Road!"
Candler School of Theology 2012 New Student Orientation
"Build up the road! Build it up! Get it ready!"
Isaiah 57:14
As the Office of Student Programming staff has been preparing to welcome you to Candler, our imaginations have been caught by the image of a road. From Isaiah 57, we found the depiction of the road - where it's coming from, where it's going, and the preparation of the road itself - particularly evocative.
Each person arrives at Candler from a different place, having travelled different roads, formed by different experiences, shaped by different values. This diversity is one of the hallmarks of the seminary experience at Candler. The image of the road speaks also to the fact that many students are being prepared for something as yet unknown. Even those with a strong sense of direction may yet be surprised. None of us can know fully what lies ahead on this road we travel. Such a willingness to be open to God's movement in our lives and in the world reflects another characteristic of Candler as a community of faith and learning.
Most immediately for you, as entering students, the road represents the preparation for this academic, vocational journey-about which you will learn much at Orientation! And yet as we shift our gaze further down the road, we find that we ourselves become the road, the way for others, connecting ourselves and one another to God through our work in the church, the academy, and the world.
So, Build up the road! Build it up! Get it ready! - Isaiah 57:14
The Office of Student Programming Staff
About the Artist
Amaryah Armstrong is from Miami, Florida but prefers to claim as home Nashville, Tennessee, where she earned a B.A. in English Literature from Belmont University. A recent graduate of Candler with a Master of Theological Studies, Amaryah uses political and systematic theology, literature, and philosophy to explore conceptions of desire, race, and place in the U.S. imagination. She keeps busy these days by planning conferences, dabbling in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and reading theology.